Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 699 Hit it off

The two most famous Shanxi merchants in the Ming Dynasty were the Zhang family and the Wang family.

The Zhang family produced a famous figure during the Longqing and Wanli periods, namely, the former Prime Minister Zhang Siwei. Before Zhang Siwei entered the officialdom, the Zhang family was already a leading figure among Shanxi merchants. After Zhang Siwei became Prime Minister, the Zhang family became even more prosperous and became the leader among Shanxi merchants.

The Wang family was no less important than the Zhang family. During the same period as Zhang Siwei, the Wang family also produced a famous figure, Wang Chonggu. Although Wang Chonggu had never been the prime minister, he had served as the Minister of Punishments and the Minister of War, and was one of the important officials at that time.

Moreover, the Zhang family and the Wang family are relatives. Wang Chonggu is Zhang Siwei's uncle. The two families have always been inseparable and have many inter-marriages. They are collectively known as "Zhang Wang" in Shanxi.

One can imagine the status of the Zhang and Wang families in Shanxi merchants. Although Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu have passed away long ago, there are still many students and old officials from the two families, and there are still people in the family serving as officials in the court. Although their official positions are not high, their network of relationships is intricate and their foundation is profound. Even important officials in the court have to be polite when meeting the heads of the Zhang and Wang families.

The reason why Fan Yongdou was able to make a fortune was that he relied on the support of Zhang and Wang's families and gradually rose to prominence with the help of Zhang and Wang's families. Later, Fan Yongdou hooked up with Nurhaci, and after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he flirted with Huang Taiji and smuggled materials to Liaodong on a large scale to obtain huge profits. Without the protection of Zhang and Wang's families, Fan Yongdou would not have such a heavy burden.

This was the main reason why Zhu Shenzhui dealt with the Jiexiu Fan family but did not touch the Zhang and Wang families. Although Fan Yongdou had a high status among Shanxi merchants and the Fan family was also a big family, they were different from the Zhang and Wang families. Fan Yongdou dealt with them and that was it, and he had his own means to solve the remaining problems. But once he touched the Zhang and Wang families, it would be different. These two families were a hornet's nest, how could they be easily moved? Once a big mess was made, not to mention Zhu Shenzhui at the time, even Emperor Chongzhen would have a headache.

The head of the Wang family today is Wang Zhichen, who is the great-nephew of Wang Chonggu. Although Wang Chonggu was born in the Wang family, his descendants did not engage in business because he entered the officialdom. In addition, the head of the Wang family at that time was Wang Chonggu's uncle. Later, the business branch of the Shanxi Wang family has always been headed by the descendants of the uncle.

The same is true for the Zhang family. The current head of the Zhang family is Zhang Siwei's nephew Zhang Guozheng, who is the eldest grandson of Zhang Siwei's uncle Zhang Xialing.

Now, Zhang Guozheng and Wang Zhichen, the heads of the Zhang and Wang families, were sitting opposite each other, with no outsiders serving them. There were two cups of tea on the table, which had become a little cold, but they had not been touched.

"What do you think about this, brother?" Zhang Guozheng asked intently. Wang Zhichen closed his eyes slightly, as if thinking about something. He tapped lightly with his middle finger of his left hand on the armrest. After a long time, he opened his eyes and said, "Since you are here, I think you have a plan. Why don't you tell me your opinion first?"

"Since you asked me to tell you, I will tell you the truth. I think this is feasible."

"Oh, can you tell me in detail?" Wang Zhichen asked seriously.

Zhang Guozheng did not beat around the bush and said directly: "If the court opens up border trade, select three or four places in Shanxi for mutual trade. I don't need to explain the benefits. Brother has been doing business for many years, so he can naturally calculate the benefits. Moreover, this time the court is different from the past. It is said that the trade is not directly led by the court, but is actually operated by us. In addition, there is no limit on the amount of goods, which is unprecedented..."

"There are still restrictions." Wang Zhichen said calmly: "Military trade of weapons and other items is prohibited. As for food, there are also quotas. Have you forgotten this?"

"Haha, how could I forget that." Zhang Guozheng said with a smile, "It's natural to have restrictions on military equipment. The court has rules in the first place. Besides, this time we are not allowed to trade privately. I think my brother should be able to sense something from these four words. As for the food quota, it's not a problem either. Although it's a bit troublesome, once it's in operation, there will still be a lot of profit."

Wang Zhichen nodded slightly. As a wealthy merchant among Shanxi merchants and the head of one of the Zhang and Wang families, he certainly knew all this. To be honest, a few days ago, Kang Youfu came to visit him and told Wang Zhichen that the court intended to open border trade in Shanxi and let Shanxi merchants trade on their own. Especially when they selected several big merchants among Shanxi merchants to join forces, Wang Zhichen was instantly tempted.

As a veteran Shanxi merchant, how could Wang Zhichen not know the huge benefits? Shanxi merchants have always relied on salt and grain at the border. In order to ensure the logistics supply of grain at the border, Zhu Yuanzhang gave Shanxi merchants the convenience of salt law, which enabled Shanxi merchants to develop.

But today, salt and grain alone can no longer satisfy the appetite of Shanxi merchants. Many years ago, Shanxi merchants began to engage in smuggling, transporting materials to the grasslands through underground channels, and even traded with Liaodong like Fan Yongdou to make huge profits.

But doing so has risks on the one hand, and the scale of each trade is also limited on the other. And now Kang Youfu actually told them that the court was going to officially launch border trade in Shanxi, and that they, the Shanxi merchants, would directly operate it. How could they not be tempted by such a good thing?

The news spread quickly. Zhang Guozheng, who also learned the news, could no longer sit still and ran directly to Wang Zhichen to discuss the matter. The two families were relatives and were indistinguishable from each other. Moreover, the two families were leaders among Shanxi merchants, so their decision was extremely important.

"But don't forget, this time the border trade is different from the past. Although we are directly operating it, the transaction of goods must be settled through Hengtong Bill Bank with bills, and the proportion of commercial tax in the transaction is not low." Zhang Guozheng laughed immediately: "This is a small matter. Hengtong Bill Bank has had bill-based trade before. What's more, Hengtong Bill Bank is not an ordinary bill bank now. There are people standing behind it..."

At this point, Zhang Guozheng pointed a finger upwards and smiled meaningfully: "In my opinion, this is nothing more than a transaction. He was originally from a Shanxi merchant family and a member of the royal family. He is no stranger to us. Now he has this attitude and allows us to actually preside over it. This attitude is very good."

"From a business perspective, although Hengtong gets commercial taxes from this, the proportion of commercial taxes is far less than the trade share and profits. Moreover, Hengtong directly withdrew from the leading role this time and handed this transaction over to us, which was also intended to reassure you and me."

Wang Zhichen also laughed at this time: "Your statement is not bad, I thought so too. If it is really done this way, these commercial taxes are indeed nothing, but there is one thing that needs to be paid attention to."

"What do you mean, brother?"

"The imperial court!" Wang Zhichen pointed towards the east, towards the capital. "The person who did this might not only want to collect taxes from merchants, but also have other plans."

"Brother, what you mean is...? To win us over and use us for your own purposes?" Zhang Guozheng asked intently.

Wang Zhichen nodded: "That person is very calculating. If this can be accomplished, not only can the country obtain a large amount of commercial taxes from border trade, but it can also be used to win over our two families. If you and I stand with that person, then the students and officials of our two families will naturally be used by him. The benefits are self-evident."

Zhang Guozheng had not thought about this before, but now that Wang Zhichen reminded him, he suddenly realized it. He slapped his thigh and said, "It's indeed a good plan. That person is trying to lure him in with benefits and use them for his own benefit!"

"Of course, otherwise he wouldn't have entered the capital as a mere royal family member and become the regent now." Wang Zhichen stroked his long beard and said, "Besides, Hengtong didn't do it directly, but used the name of Hengtong Ticket Office to restrict us. There must be another meaning behind it. If I'm not mistaken, what he thinks is much deeper than it seems on the surface. It's easy to get on this boat, but once you're on it, it's hard to get off."

"This..." Zhang Guozheng hesitated and asked tentatively: "Since brother said so, should we do it or not?"

"Why not?" Wang Zhichen glanced at him and said calmly, "Our families have been doing business for generations, and some of our family members have served as officials in the court. That person wants to win us over because we are worthy of being won over. Besides, the North is not as good as the South. Doing business in the North is not easy. We, the Shanxi merchants, have reached the limit of what we have achieved so far."

"But if we can get in touch with that person this time, we may be able to break the impasse with his help. There is another thing you may not know. Kang Youfu told me privately that that person is planning to open up the sea in Shandong. If the border trade with Shanxi is successful, the next step is to prepare for opening up the sea!"

"Open the sea!" These two words made Zhang Guozheng's eyes light up. What are the benefits of maritime trade? Others may not know it, but doesn't Zhang Guozheng know it?
The merchants in the south, on the surface, disagreed with the court's decision to open the sea, but they privately built ships and recruited sailors to go out to sea for trade. Things that were worth only a few copper coins in the Ming Dynasty could be exchanged for mountains of gold and silver once they went out to sea. Which of the wealthy merchants in the south did not make a fortune from it?
Compared with the south, Shanxi merchants have inherent disadvantages. Shanxi is located inland and is not close to the sea. Over the years, Shanxi merchants can only make profits through the trade of salt, grain, tea and other materials. If they want to make more money, they have to take the risk of smuggling, and smuggling requires many arrangements, which costs a lot.

If they could trade by sea, Shanxi merchants would have done so long ago, but they did not have the conditions to do so. Moreover, sea trade was basically monopolized by merchants from Jiangnan, Fujian, and Guangdong, so Shanxi merchants had no way to get involved in this business.

But now Wang Zhichen suddenly told Zhang Guozheng that the court was planning to open the sea in Shandong and was also preparing to let the Shanxi merchants directly intervene. How could Zhang Guozheng not be excited? As one of the leaders of the Shanxi merchants, he knew too well the huge profits of maritime trade and the benefits of this business.

"Is this serious?"

"Although Kang Youfu only said this in private, I think it should be true." Wang Zhichen whispered, "Although the new regent has repelled the Jiannu, the court is still facing many difficulties, especially the increasingly serious financial problems. The court can't collect taxes, so how to deal with the expenses of the provinces? What's more, Gao Yingxiang and other bandits have not been eliminated, and war also requires money and food."

"If it were someone else, I might not believe it, but don't forget that person is the same as you and me. He is the boss behind Hengtong. Hengtong has grown to such a scale in just ten years. That person's business methods are extraordinary. Extraordinary people do extraordinary things, so the opening of the sea is probably true."

"Good! Good!" Zhang Guozheng's eyes sparkled, his face flushed, and he danced with excitement.

(End of this chapter)